THERE are no fewer than seven red flags in the budget presented to Nigerians by the Dele Alake-led Ministry of Solid Minerals Development. Economy Post‘s data department, known as Postlytics, found that these red flags are loopholes that could lead to embezzlement of public funds.
The entire ministry’s five agencies got a budget of N16.649 billion. However, the focus of this analysis is the Ministry of Solid Minerals’ Headquarters, which received a total budget of N6.723 billion.
First, the budget contains one line item termed, “Formalization of illegal miners to join artisanal cooperatives within a specified window period.” The cost of the line item is N64.879 million. Another line item in the budget also reads, “Formalization/mainstreaming of artisinal miners in the country” and costs N10.381 million. Former banker and financial analyst, Mr Simon Uguru, sees this as a duplication of budget line items, which may lead to embezzlement of scarce public resources.
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Another loophole in the budget is a line item entitled, “Amendment of mining laws,” which the ministry allocated N17.301 million for. Mr Uguru asked whether the money would be used “to bribe lawmakers to amend the law,” noting that such a line item could create loopholes for corruption in the government.
The third item that raises eyebrows is termed, “Evaluation of the compliance with the budget/performance,” which says nothing, according to experts. The ministry budgeted N70.138 million for this item. But a budget expert, Mr Theophilus Uduma, who worked in the Ministry of Finance for several years, noted that this was a ruse. “So, to evaluate whether they or others will comply with the budget, they will spend N70 million? Is it on travel or on inspection? It is not just clear and it leaves loopholes,” he said.
Yet another line item that leaves loopholes in the system is termed, “Procurement of computers and its accessories,” which is a line item seen in nearly all the budgets of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs). “Do they buy computers every year? What happened to the ones they used last year. Assuming without conceding that all the computers used last year were all damaged, wouldn’t they call for repairs?” he further asked.
The fifth red flag is yet another item that could result in embezzlement of public funds. It is entitled, “Develop infrastructure and procurement of sports equipments,” which costs N17.301 million. Mr Uduma said the ministry did not specify whether the item was for the staff or some other group, asking whether the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development had become a sports ministry or commission.
Following the item is another strange but emotional line item entitled, “Provision of creche for new born babies in the ministry.” Mr Uguru, on his part, said: “Though this could be targeted at taking care of children of staff of the ministry, questions would often arise as to why the government would fund the school fees of the children of civil servants.” He argued that it would create loopholes in the system as other MDAs would soon begin to imitate it, which was not a standard global practice.
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The seventh item in the budget that raises eyebrows is named, “Implementation of federal civil service strategy and implementation plan 2021-2025 (FCSSIP25),” which costs N36.044 million. Mr Uguru wondered why a simple implementation of a government plan would cost an amount that could pay 514 Nigerians the minimum wage of N70,000 per month.
The ministry did not respod to enquiries as to why these items were added to its budget.
Wasteful budgets
Nigerian budgets have been described by analysts as “wasteful.” In the 2025 budget, the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission budgeted 45 percent of its 2025 budget on salaries of its staff despite Nigeria’s low nuclear presence. The Auditor-General of the Federation budgeted N1.737 billion for the purchase of 25 audit operational vehicles and five buses. There are several loopholes captured by Economy Post‘s data team.
Last year, the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN) set aside N190 million to purchase a Land Cruiser Jeep for its Director-General/Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Abdullahi Mustapha.
Similarly, the zone of Nigeria’s Senate President, Mr Godswill Akpabio, got 21 out of 118 projects planned by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security in 2024.
“We must overhaul or budgetin system,” said Mr Uduma. “It is too generic and too ambiguous. How can we have an item like ‘preparation of sports festival’ in a budget. What does that mean? What does an item like ‘evaluation of projects’ really mean for a developing nation like ours. Unless we change this, we would continue to go around in circles.”
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